'Judge Judy' brings order to court with top ratings

Published: Saturday, November 14, 1998

Knight Ridder

So long Jerry, so long Oprah, "Judge Judy" is the hottest thing in syndicated television.

Indeed, for the first time ever, the third-year legal show has just finished No. 1 among the first-run talk or court shows, beating current champion "The Jerry Springer Show" and runnerup "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

According to Nielsen figures for the week ending Nov. 1, the only original syndicated shows to generate larger audiences were the game shows "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy," which routinely finish Nos. 1 and 2 in the syndi standings.

"It's a hoot, and it's certainly very gratifying," said "Judge Judy" Sheindlin, a former New York Family Court jurist turned TV host. "It's nice to have a program that you work hard on, and try cases that give people somewhat of a direct or subliminal message, and do it in a way that holds their interest."

"Judge Judy" actually landed in a tie with "Jerry Springer" in household ratings, with a 6.4 (percentage of the nation's 99.4 million TV homes). But in terms of viewers, the nod went to "Judge Judy," which hit an all-time high in both ratings and viewers. The courtroom series averaged 8,212,000 viewers to 7,952,000 for "Jerry Springer."

The heady week was also the third straight that "Judge Judy" topped "The Oprah Winfrey" show in the Nielsen department. Over the past decade, the fisticuffs-filled "Springer" has been the only other show to outpoint the daytime queen. "Oprah" averaged 6,766,000 viewers in the latest Nielsen tally.

"This is quite a feat," said Marc Berman, associate program director at Seltel, which advises stations on program choices. "Basically, she ("Judge Judy") has revived the court-show genre."

vnulertndntnia"Judge Judy" is an updated version of "The People's Court." Before going Hollywood, Sheindlin made her mark by being a tough-talking jurist who accepted no excuses from those appearing in her courtroom. She has taken the same tack on "Judge Judy," which may be the reason behind her soaring fortunes.

srnlirnsiomleidsaww"Judge Judy's" audience was up 100 percent compared to the same week a year ago. Most of her gain, it seems, has come from talk shows, which are largely down.

The exception is "Springer," up 60 percent year-to-year. "Oprah" is off 17 percent.

Some of the "Judge Judy" growth can be attributed to better time slots for the series. As ratings have increased over the past year, stations have moved the series to higher-viewed time periods.

"Am I surprised?" Scheindlin said. "Yes, I'm surprised, but pleased."

Meanwhile, in other syndicated ratings news, "The Howard Stern Radio Show" was up 17 percent from the previous week's record-low for the show - to a 1.4 rating, with 1,720,000 viewers. And "The Roseanne Show" was up 14 percent week to week, to a 1.6 rating, with 1,791,000 viewers.